What's on Your Mind?

Keep it constructive

Why can't all the Obama haters and Obamacare haters do something constructive for a change? For starters, they could accept that, as far as health is concerned, we are all in this together, instead of callously turning a blind eye to all the sick people without adequate resources. Next, they could recognize how successful Medicare has been, and build on that.

We could phase in a lowering of the age for Medicare eligibility, a few years at a time, until everyone is covered. This would be enormously more efficient and more cost- effective than the huge patchwork of all these insurance exchanges, government support of private companies, and hospitals subsidizing unaffordable emergency room visits with higher charges on other patients.

Two or three further things would have to happen in the process. (1) The wider coverage would need to be paid for by transferring revenue into Medicare, preferably from the unnecessarily large military budget, the alternative being higher Medicare taxes and co-pays. (2) Doctors would probably need to be paid more, as Medicare reimbursements are very low compared to what providers like to charge and we do not want a wholesale stampede of doctors out of the system. (3) Medical school education should be subsidized so as to attract more primary care physicians who would not be burdened with enormous debts to pay off through high fees.

James Tobin

Town of Wilson

Political points

Republicans and right-wing radio-ranters are ecstatic, positively gleeful, over the problems the rollout of the Affordable Care Act has. I find their attitude disturbing, since they ignore the fact that there are still 46 million Americans with no health coverage at all. The implementation of the health exchanges has not gone well. Every American sincere about health care reform should be concerned.

In some way, Republicans should be pleased, since they've undermined healthcare reform from the very start. What was, and still is, needed is a single-payer healthcare system that covers everyone. Republicans forced Obama into accepting the insurance mandate and healthcare exchanges, and Republicans put in the provision about states not having to create their own exchanges. Republicans watered down the ACA and forced Democrats to accept the very measures the right is now criticizing.

And after forcing the administration into these poor alternatives, not a single Republican voted for the ACA, even though it is essentially the same program that Republican Gov. Mitt Romney implemented in Massachusetts. This proves that Republicans are not interested in any healthcare reform, even one like the current ACA, which shovels money into the coffers of the biggest insurance companies. Right-wingers would rather make political points for the next election rather than do something to help Americans get health care.

David Henning

Sheboygan

Erodes the system

No one has been brought to justice after the IRS was used to shut down conservative nonprofits opposed to the administration before the last election. This fact apparently has not been lost on political operatives in our state. The Wall Street Journal broke a story Nov. 16 about a flurry of secret subpoenas and dawn police raids in Wisconsin, again aimed at conservative nonprofits, this time those that may support Scott Walker in the next election.

When Eric O"Keefe, director of Wisconsin Club for Growth, talked to the WSJ and broke the veil of secrecy surrounding these shadowy "John Doe" fishing trips, he did the right thing for Republicans and Democrats alike. Though aimed at conservatives, such harassing "investigations" threaten the rights enjoyed by all of us, regardless of party affiliation or lack thereof. Any group that puts its thumb on the scales of justice to further its political agenda erodes the system that protects us all.

Art DeJong

Sheboygan

Cronyism

This could be a dictionary definition of cronyism. Michelle Obama's former classmate at Princeton is a top executive of the company that got the no-bid contract to build the failed Obamacare website at a cost of $93 million. Toni Townes-Whitley, Michelle's classmate, is senior vice president at CGI Federal, which earned the contract to build the $678 million Obamacare enrollment website that still does not work.

CGI Federal is the U.S. arm of a Canadian company. George Schindler, president of this company, became an Obama 2012 campaign donor after his company got the contract. Overseeing this for the Obama administration was Kathleen Sebelius. Enough said about this! If this doesn't bother you, it sure should. Time for another change? For sure!

Jack Wirtz

Sheboygan

Examine all possibilities

Downtown Sheboygan has had a lot of problems retaining businesses, but the announcement to close Boston Store is really big. For those of us who shopped Prange's and the other stores when Eighth Street was the hub of Sheboygan shopping it is sad to think that gap may not be filled. Yes, I do love the library and if you need great gifts I do suggest Sonlight Books, but without a retail store for clothing and home merchandise shoppers have nothing else to go to downtown.

I'm not recommending another Wal-Mart, which may open up in downtown Green Bay, but then again they do offer a lot of stuff like groceries and household products especially for those who live in the area. I hope all possibilities will be examined because this is a great city with a lot to offer.

Barb Hengst

Sheboygan

Cyclical activity?

Is there a pharmaceutical firm out there working on a medication to alleviate "talking head syndrome?" Symptoms are nausea, irritability, ranting, high blood pressure, and possibly a rash. Causation has been traced to cable news networks and certain AM radio transmissions. The affected groups are mainly Caucasian males, although it has spread to both sexes and several other populations. Test subjects frequently express anger about something called Obamacare, even while they struggle with their immediate family health issues and lack of coverage.

Psychiatric treatment has included interventions that remind the patient that both the reporting media personality and politician being interviewed are financially stable and have a net worth in excess of $1 million. Genetic testing has shown that it is related to a lack of the empathy gene. Some healthcare professionals are split over the cause, with many saying it is a cyclical phenomenon, similar to outbreaks during the 1930s and 1960s era events of social change.

Mark Briese

Sheboygan

Work together

We certainly have been hearing a lot about the Health Care Law lately and we begin to wonder if it can be saved in its present form. Although there may be some good parts of this law there are certainly some parts that are a disaster. The law is demanding unrealistic coverages, thus causing the providers to either raise premiums or cancel policies. If the insurance companies do not make those changes they could go totally out of business and then everyone associated with that provider will lose, including employees of the provider.

If I remember correctly, this law was written entirely by the Democrats. The Republicans were locked out of any discussions and ignored when suggestions were made to make some changes to it. Now it appears to be blowing up in the faces of those Democrats, so I guess the chickens are coming home to roost. Working together on this law would certainly have helped with the acceptance of it.

Norman Veldboom

Oostburg

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What's on Your Mind?

Why can't all the Obama haters and Obamacare haters do something constructive for a change? For starters, they could accept that, as far as health is concerned, we are all in this together, instead

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